YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Jurors last night convicted 18-year-old Michael Davis of Youngstown's worst mass murder -- an arson that killed six people last winter.

Mr. Davis faces a second trial on Oct. 23 before the same jury that convicted him yesterday of six counts of aggravated murder and 19 counts of aggravated arson.

The jurors, who deliberated about 6¹/₂ hours, now must decide if he should be put to death or be sent to prison for at least 25 years, and perhaps for the rest of his life.

Retia Crawford, 19, whose mother, older sister, three nieces and nephew perished in the Jan. 23 house arson on Youngstown's East Side, said she hoped the jury of eight women and four men would vote for execution. Ms. Crawford and four other people escaped from the burning house by jumping out of windows or fighting through thick smoke to reach a door.

Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains said the verdict gave him no joy.

"This was a tragic event. I wish it had never happened," he said.

Nonetheless, Mr. Gains and two assistant prosecutors will ask the jury to make Mr. Davis Ohio's youngest death row prisoner.

Defense attorney James Gentile said he would call a psychologist and relatives of Mr. Davis in hopes of persuading jurors to spare his life. Another of Mr. Davis's lawyers has said that Mr. Davis is illiterate but understands he will face the death penalty.

In his closing argument before Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge R. Scott Krichbaum, Mr. Gentile said Mr. Davis was innocent and that he had taken the blame for the fire to protect his brother, James Davis, and a family friend named Anthony Morrow.

"Two confessions Mr. Davis gave to Youngstown police were done to protect the guilty," Mr. Gentile said.

But Retia Crawford said the defense story was concocted in an attempt to confuse the jury.

"Nobody was involved but Michael Davis," she said.

His motive, according to the prosecution, was rage because two boys from the neighborhood -- one of them Retia's brother, Julius Crawford -- stole his cell phone. So enraged was Mr. Davis, the prosecutor said, that he wandered into the cold at 5:30 a.m., walked two blocks to the Crawfords' house, then poured lighter fluid on their porch and ignited it.

Killed in the fire were Carol Crawford, 46; her daughter, Jennifer Crawford, 23; and Jennifer's four children, Ranaisha, 8; Jeannine, 5; Aleisha, 3; and Brandon, 2. Eight Youngstown firefighters also were injured in the fire.

In his closing argument, Mr. Gains said all the children suffered burns over at least 50 percent of their bodies. They were trapped in their beds on the second floor of the house that Carol Crawford rented.

Carol Crawford, who slept on the living room couch, was the first to notice the fire. Instead of saving herself, Mr. Gains said, she ran up the stairs in a futile attempt to rescue Jennifer Crawford and her grandchildren.

Police focused on Mr. Davis as a suspect almost immediately. He and two of his brothers were accused of another arson in the same neighborhood last December. In that case, an elderly man's porch was set on fire.

Mr. Davis initially denied any involvement in setting the Crawfords' house on fire but subsequently gave a tape-recorded confession to Youngstown detectives. He later tried to implicate Mr. Morrow as an accomplice, but police said they found no evidence linking anyone else to the arson.

Later, after obtaining a lawyer, Mr. Davis pleaded not guilty to the charges and his legal team said police had mishandled the investigation.

About 15 members and supporters of the Crawford family hugged in the courtroom hallway to celebrate Mr. Davis's conviction. One woman who would not identify herself declined to answer if she was pleased by the verdict.

"This is what we hoped for," she said.